Eclipse Phase: Singularity

Wealth

Wealth

Wealth can be abstracted in much the same way Reputation and Networking have been abstracted for the social aspects of the game.

Shopping (SAV)

Shopping is a Savvy test at SAVx3 representing the character’s ability to find a vendor and/or shop with the product desired. A failed roll means the character simply did not complete the purchase, whether the because the product was not available with the desired specifications or the price was too much. The refresh time is the time taken to do the shopping and complete the transaction and in the case of physical items, pick them up.

Assets

Assets is a rating from 0-99. It works in similar fashion to Reputation ratings. The higher the rating, the higher the wealth of the individual. Thinking in the abstract, someone with Assets 20 could have some smaller investments, modest income and perhaps a small coffin condo on Luna. Assets 60 on the other hand may mean a large investment portfolio, significant income and multiple properties. Or it may just mean that dealing drugs for that drug lord has been paying off real big.

Assets are relevant and kept separate for each Ego ID the character has. This represents the various levels of wealth associated with each ID.

Acquiring Things

Acquiring stuff can be abstracted as the character’s Assets vs. Cost. The cost of the item translates to the difficulty of acquiring the object. The character’s Fiances skill translates directly to the ability to bring his Assets to bear in order to to acquire the thing in question.

To acquire a thing, you must compare the Assets to the Cost. If the Assets is higher than the Cost, it is easier to acquire it. When Cost is higher than the Assets, it becomes more difficult to acquire the thing. This is represented with a bonus or penalty on the Finances roll. The finances role represents not only the ability to acquire the item, but also shopping for it, and locating it and ultimately deciding to buy it. Someone with good Assets and ability to manage them will have an easier time acquiring things because they are wealthy. Poor characters will have a harder time.

Assets Score

Associated Cost

Credit Cost

Average Credits

Acquire Refresh

Asset Burn

0-19

Trivial

1-99

50

1 minute

1

20-39

Low

100-499

250

1 hour

2

40-59

Moderate

500-1,499

1,000

8 hours

3

60-79

High

1,500-9,999

5,000

16 hours

4

80-99

Expensive

10,000+

20,000

24 hours

5

Assets vs. Cost Bonus or Penalty

For every level of difference between the Assets and the Cost, the character receives either a bonus or a penalty on the Finances roll. The bonus or penalty is -10/10 per level difference up to a maximum of -30/30. This means that you cannot purchase anything which is beyond 3 levels of Assets vs. Cost. It is just too expensive for you.

Attempting to obtain something much too expensive for you will most likely result in a loss of Assets on a failed roll. That’s a decision the character makes when they decide that they need something really bad. The inverse is also true, if you are filthy rich and the thing costs nothing to you, it does not get any easier to acquire it past some point.
To speed things up, with a 3 level difference in Assets vs. Cost, the GM should allow the character to acquire the resource without a roll. Acquisition of trivial resources should for the most part also be skipped whenever it has no impact on story (i.e. train tickets, shuttle flight, etc.).

Acquire Refresh

The refresh rate determines how soon another acquire attempt may be made to acquire an object or service. The last acquire attempt determines the refresh. Acquiring a Moderate cost object will require 8 hours before the character may acquire anything else, regardless of the new item’s cost. This represents the character shuffling and transferring his assets and possibly liquidating some of them in order to make the purchase.

There is no refresh rate to purchase of trivial items which do not impact the story.

Burning Assets

The penalty can be mitigated by Burning Assets. Assets can be burned and liquidated in order to
obtain the thing which is desired. For every point of assets burned, a character can negate the
same amount of penalty from their roll. This represents selling off property and investments in
order to make the purchase.

Assets may also be burned to reset the acquire refresh period immediately. The assets burned
in order to reset the refresh period depend on the cost of the resource acquired.

Difficulty to Acquire

In some instances and locations a thing may be harder to acquire than normal. Be it hard to find,
rare or strictly controlled. In this case, a difficulty modifier may be applied. Easy to acquire items have no bonus, it is easier to simply just allow the character to acquire it, or if really needed make them make a standard test.